The Gown Student Newspaper at Queen's University Belfast

REVIEW: Rosie and the Goldbug

The short lived Rosie & The Goldbug were an act destined for great things and could have easily have found a prestigious place of honor alongside Marina and the Diamonds, Paloma Faith, Santogold and not forgetting Florence + The Machine. Their fantastic self titled debut album, their only album, Rosie & The Goldbug is, quite simply astounding.

BY HANNAH GOODALL

Melancholic, enigmatic, pop-enthused, unique, exciting, original are rather poor ways of describing this one off twelve track wonder. Lover, Strange Girl, You’ve Changed and Electric City are extremely catchy and alluring. Rosie’s voice has that same enticing tone that has drawn thousands of fans to the feat of Florence and Marina. Stylistically, Rosie & The Goldbug could be likened to Tuuli or The Donnas, an all girl band who know how to handle their instruments. Vocally and lyrically, Rosie & The Goldbug have a rather vintage sound, a combination of beautiful lyrics and ethereal voices quite similar to the Puppini Sisters.

All comparisons aside though, the album takes on a life of its own. The haunting and delicate allure makes the music hard to forget and even harder to describe. Each track has a similarity whilst remaining completely different from that which proceeds or succeeds it. Endearing as it is, it does however have one fault.  All the elements which work in favour of the band creating a fan base unfortunately become rather tedious after more than two repeat listens. It is something to be savored, to be enjoyed sparingly, but maybe this works in its favour. An album you can enjoy in the moment.  Truly a rare thing in the music industry. Made even rarer by the fact that since the album’s release the band have since dis-banded, for reasons unknown to devout followers, with no hope of reforming or recording a new album.

A gem, never to be repeated Rosie &The Goldbug is an essential album for the truest of music lovers. However, all hope is not lost. Rosie Vanier has announced her solo career has finally kicked off. With a tour planned for June and an array of catchy new demos available on her Myspace and Facebook pages for hungry fans to devour, we are not to be disappointed. Rosie is an extremely talented female vocalist and this preview of her new solo material is exactly what the fans want. Although there are clear similarities between the works of Rosie & The Goldbug and her solo material, there is enough of a difference for a new audience to be lured into the world of vintage chic glamour, ethereal rock and kitsch vintage which Rosie Vanier oozes in abundance. We can expect great things from this new UK female musician, and the current queens of the scene have a new rival on their radars for sure.

Tags: Gown, Hannah Goodall, newspaper, qub, Queen's, queen's university, student, students, The Gown

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 6th, 2010 at 3:23 am and is filed under Arts + Ents. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.